Chapter 141 : The Battle for Truth
They say that as one grows older, the need for morning sleep fades. Philip, now truly on the cusp of retirement, woke at the break of dawn. As always, he dressed meticulously in the Magic Tower’s uniform, combing his white hair neatly back.
He was at his desk, sipping tea and reviewing documents earlier than anyone else in the Tower, when a commotion erupted outside. A frantic knock followed, and his aide burst in.
“Master of the Tower, we have a problem!”
“What’s all this ruckus about?” Philip asked.
“This—please, take a look at this!”
The aide, hands trembling, thrust a newspaper and an envelope toward him.
Philip reached for the newspaper first. It often provided a concise summary of current events, which he found useful. His eyes gleamed as he read the headline on the front page. The wrinkles around his half-closed eyes sharpened with interest.
“Aracila Vandemir Files Lawsuit Against the Magic Tower!”
The article announced that Aracila had sued the Magic Tower for wrongful dismissal, claiming she’d been ousted due to internal politics without just cause. Provocative words, perfectly crafted to pique public curiosity, leapt off the page.
Next, Philip opened the envelope. Inside was a formal complaint from Aracila, meticulously listing the names of the mages who had spearheaded her expulsion. It demanded their presence at the trial.
“…Ho ho. Ho ho. Ho ho ho ho!” Philip let out a hearty laugh.
His aide stared at him, bewildered. A disgraced mage suing the Magic Tower was undoubtedly a stain on its reputation. Yet here was Philip, the Master of the Tower, laughing with such unrestrained delight that it baffled his aide.
That’s my disciple, Philip thought, a fond smile spreading across his face.
He had always admired two things about Aracila: her magical talent and her relentless drive toward her goals. Her tenacity, her fierce determination to never abandon her dreams, had always stood out to him. A mage with such pride, humiliated and cast out, would surely return to the Tower someday—or so Philip had believed. If she gave up now, she wouldn’t be Aracila.
“Master, what should we do? Lady Vandemir has filed a lawsuit, so the Tower must respond,” the aide said.
“Then respond we shall. What’s the issue?” Philip replied calmly.
“But… to go up against Lady Vandemir in such a way…”
The aide swallowed the rest of his words, his eyes pleading. A mudslinging battle? Aracila was Philip’s last disciple. Their parting hadn’t been amicable, but he had no desire to see it end in bitter enmity. What if Aracila, in a fit of spite, leaked the Tower’s internal secrets or exposed the minor misdeeds of its leadership? The aide worried about how far the Tower’s prestige might fall, but Philip seemed unconcerned, a faint smile even playing on his lips.
If she’s gone so far as to file a lawsuit, she must have solid evidence to prove her innocence, Philip thought.
By taking the matter to an external court rather than handling it internally, she was ensuring that those who had wronged her would face proper consequences. As her mentor, Philip saw through her intentions at once and let out a relieved sigh. There was no need to worry about Aracila any longer.
He spoke quietly. “Convene a meeting of the leadership and instruct those named in the complaint to form a response team.”
It was not the voice of a mentor awaiting his disciple, but the command of the Master of the Tower preparing for a trial.
The news of a lawsuit between a banished mage and the Magic Tower sparked widespread intrigue. That someone once considered a candidate for the next Master of the Tower had been abruptly expelled, only to sharpen her blade and challenge the very institution she’d once served, captivated the public’s imagination.
As the trial date approached, all eyes were on Aracila and the Magic Tower.
“Are you ready, my lady?” Damian asked, standing at the foot of the central staircase as Aracila descended.
Dressed in the Magic Tower’s uniform for the first time in a while, Aracila gave a confident nod and a bold smile. A good night’s sleep had left her refreshed and invigorated. Her steps toward the courthouse were resolute, bolstered by Damian’s steadfast presence at her side.
The courtroom gallery was packed, and outside, a crowd of onlookers buzzed with excitement. From the moment she entered, their voices filled the air.
“Oh, look! Lady Vandemir has arrived!”
“See that confident look on her face? The Tower must have truly wronged her.”
“I can’t wait to see who comes out on top today!”
Aracila’s gaze swept over the opposing side. There sat Philip, leading the group, alongside Fernando and five other senior mages, with Travis among them. The senior mages, who had voted on her expulsion, were expected, but Travis, whose name had been included in the complaint for no apparent reason, looked visibly unsettled. Or perhaps nervous? A faint smirk tugged at Aracila’s lips.
The moment they saw her, the mages slammed their fists on the table, venting their indignation without a hint of shame.
“To think you’d have the gall to sue us! You truly are the Tower’s disgrace.”
“I thought you were clever enough to read the room, but to drag things to this point with such poor judgment?”
“It’s lamentable that someone like you was ever part of the Tower.”
The mages muttered loudly enough for all to hear, but Aracila sat down without so much as a flicker of emotion, her eyes fixed on the judge’s bench. Damian, however, shot them a chilling glare. The sword master’s aura of menace made them flinch, and they fell silent.
Moments later, the presiding judge appeared.
“Good day, everyone. I am Schneider Moore, the judge overseeing today’s trial.”
Schneider greeted the room with a formal smile before taking his seat and addressing the assembly.
“Let us now commence the trial regarding the wrongful dismissal claim against the Magic Tower.”
Bang! Bang! Bang! He struck the gavel three times, signaling the start of the proceedings.
The room fell silent as a grave, every ear straining to catch what both sides would say.
“We will begin with the plaintiff’s statement,” Schneider announced.
“Understood,” Colin replied, stepping forward. Though typically an aide, today he served as Aracila’s advocate. The gallery stirred briefly at the revelation that Aracila had not hired a professional lawyer, then quieted.
Colin stood before Schneider with a calm demeanor and began his argument. “The Magic Tower expelled Lady Vandemir on baseless rumors about her personal life without verifying the facts. This is a clear violation of labor laws and contravenes the Tower’s own regulations, which mandate at least a month-long investigation for such matters.”
“Next, the defendant’s statement,” Schneider prompted.
“The expulsion of Lady Vandemir was not solely due to her personal affairs,” the Tower’s advocate countered sharply. “The primary reason was the magical lamp explosion at Princess Gloria’s gala.” The mages nodded smugly in agreement.
Colin fixed them with a cold stare. “That is not true. Lady Vandemir did not cause the lamp explosion.”
“How shameless!” one of the senior mages shouted, clutching the back of his neck. Amid the murmuring crowd, Aracila’s gaze locked onto one person alone.
Travis, who shrank under her stare, a flicker of unease crossing his face.
“Dozens witnessed Lady Vandemir presenting the lamp to Her Highness,” the Tower’s advocate bellowed. “Moreover, the imperial office officially confirmed the lamp’s explosion. How dare you try to sway us with such baseless lies!”
Yet Aracila’s side remained unshaken. Their composed, almost regal bearing drew the crowd’s attention, stirring a faint whisper of doubt in their hearts. Could she truly be innocent, given such confidence? The question began to take root.
“The true culprit behind the lamp explosion is here in this room,” Colin declared.
“What… what did you say?”
“What nonsense is this!”
The bold statement sent a ripple of shock through the courtroom. The Tower’s mages leapt to their feet, pointing and shouting in outrage.
Only Philip remained calm. Stroking his beard, he addressed the agitated mages. “Quiet, all of you. We cannot afford to disgrace ourselves in a courtroom representing the Tower.”
“But Master! Aracila is openly slandering us! How can we sit idly by?” one mage protested.
“Whether it’s slander or not, they’ll have to prove it,” Philip replied, his eyes flashing coldly for a moment. “Sit down and say no more.”
The mages, cowed, returned to their seats. Schneider seized the moment to intervene. “Plaintiff, on what grounds do you make such a claim? If this is falsehood, it will constitute a new offense.”
“We speak only the truth, Your Honor,” Colin responded. “Lady Vandemir requests to present her case directly.”
“Permission granted,” Schneider said.
Aracila rose and stepped forward with grace and unwavering resolve. There was no trace of the cowering guilt one might expect from an accused. Clad in the Magic Tower’s uniform, her eyes sharp and bright, she looked more like a true mage than those seated on the opposing side.
“Your Honor,” she began, “I was framed, caught in a trap set by someone who sought to endanger Princess Gloria’s life.”
“And who might that be?” Schneider asked.
Aracila slowly raised her hand, pointing. All eyes followed her slender finger to its target—Travis.
Caught off guard, Travis paled, his face drained of color so starkly it was visible to all. “N-no! I would never attempt to harm Her Highness!” he stammered, waving his arms frantically in denial. “Aracila, this accident was your fault, and now you’re trying to pin it on me?”
“Exactly!” Fernando, Travis’s mentor, jumped in. “No matter that Travis was your rival, how dare you accuse an innocent man!”
Fernando’s quick defense was no surprise—Travis’s guilt would reflect poorly on him, as he had influenced his protégé’s tampering with Aracila’s lamp.
Aracila smirked, as if she’d anticipated their reaction, and turned to Schneider. “I have evidence to support my claim that Travis is the true culprit behind the explosion.”
At her signal, Colin swiftly presented the remains of the exploded magical lamp to Schneider. This evidence had been officially obtained through a request to the imperial office.
“This is the lamp that exploded at the gala,” Aracila explained. “If you examine it closely, you’ll see fine white powder clinging to it—powder that triggers an explosion when heated. Travis deliberately sprinkled it on the lamp before the event.”
“That’s absurd!” Travis cried.
“Among the materials recently purchased for Travis’s laboratory for magical device development was this very powder,” Aracila continued. “My laboratory’s purchase records, however, show no such item. I submit both sets of records as evidence.”
Colin dutifully delivered the documents to Schneider.
Travis looked as though he might faint. How had Aracila’s side obtained his purchase records?
The evidence, obtained through Billy’s coerced cooperation with Damian, was something Travis had no way of knowing about. He was left reeling, utterly bewildered. The other mages, too, showed signs of unease, unsure how to react.
Fernando, in a desperate bid to snap his dazed protégé out of it, stomped hard on Travis’s foot. The sharp pain jolted Travis back to awareness, and he stammered, “I-I admit I used the powder in my research. But Lady Aracila’s magical lamp was strictly managed within her laboratory, never leaving its confines. How could I have sprinkled the powder on it? Isn’t it more likely one of her junior mages—someone like Sally or Rudy—secretly obtained the powder and tampered with it?”
At the mention of Sally and Rudy, Aracila’s expression turned icy. Her gaze, laced with contempt and fury, bore into Travis. The idea that he would drag in mages far younger than himself, throwing them under suspicion to save his own skin, filled her with disgust.
Yet she responded with composure. “I have a witness who can testify to this matter. Your Honor, I request to call a witness.”
“Permission granted,” Schneider replied.
The door opened, and Travis’s eyes widened at the sight of the witness. It was Billy, his own junior, stepping forward with a slightly nervous but resolute demeanor. Travis hadn’t imagined Billy would betray him.
Billy took the stand, swearing to tell nothing but the truth, and began his testimony. “I’m Billy, and I work in Senior Travis’s laboratory. A few days before the explosion, he ordered me to approach Sally and Rudy to steal the key to Lady Aracila’s laboratory. Under pressure from our hierarchical relationship, I had no choice but to comply and hand over the key. After that, he left immediately and didn’t return for some time.”
“Billy, you traitor—!” Travis roared, leaping from his seat, unable to contain his fury. But Billy didn’t so much as glance his way, keeping his gaze fixed firmly on Schneider. Having resolved to turn against Travis—whether out of coercion or conviction—Billy’s resolve was unshakable.
“Based on Billy’s testimony, Travis had ample opportunity to access my laboratory,” Aracila said. “All of it was part of a scheme to assassinate Princess Gloria and frame me for it.”
“It’s a lie!” Travis shouted. “I had no reason to harm Her Highness!”
At that moment, Aracila’s eyes gleamed sharply, as if she’d been waiting for him to say those exact words.
“Oh, but you did have a reason,” she said.
The room hung on her words, as if she’d been poised for this moment.
“The Luther Viscountcy, Travis’s family, once defied the imperial family and faced severe punishment. Since then, the family has been in decline. Influenced by this history, Travis harbored a grudge against the imperial family and targeted Princess Gloria’s life as an act of revenge.”
Those privy to this history murmured in agreement, lending credibility to Aracila’s words. The crowd buzzed with speculation.
Travis, however, felt wronged. Yes, his family was in decline, but he had never harbored personal resentment toward the imperial family, let alone Princess Gloria. As an illegitimate son, he hadn’t even known about his family’s past until now.
He was right to feel unjustly accused—this was a fabricated motive, concocted by Aracila. For her, it was a necessary move. To achieve her goal, she had to corner him completely.
Travis’s face darkened, ashen with the realization that he now faced charges of attempted regicide. Finally, the truth burst from him in a desperate cry.
“No! It’s not true! I didn’t target Her Highness—I only wanted to drive Aracila out of the Magic Tower! Fernando, my mentor, can testify to our collusion!”
The moment his mentor’s name spilled from his lips, Aracila allowed herself a faint smile.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───
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